Microsoft's Crumbling Empire

Microsoft's Crumbling Empire When Apple leapt past Microsoft in market cap, Steve Ballmer brushed it off saying, "I am still pleased that 94 times out of a 100 somebody picks a Windows PC."That's true, but if you step back and look at the bigger picture, Microsoft only has 70% of the share of the two most important computing devices -- smartphones and PCs. If you look at estimates for smartphone and PC sales for 2011, Microsoft will only have 50% share of those devices. Why combine smartphones with PCs? Because smartphone operating systems like the iPhone OS and Android are powering the next generation of computers -- tablets like the iPad. And the iPad is the next version of the PC, according to Steve Ballmer. At D8 today, Ballmer said the iPad is the same as a PC, it just has a different form factor than what we've seen. If this is true, then Ballmer is looking at a scenario where Microsoft is no longer the company people chose 94 times out of a 100 when they're looking for a new computing device.  Read »